Monotheistic religions and their relationship to abortion: inventory of a situation more complex than it seems (2/3)

Les religions monothéistes et leurs rapports à l’avortement : états des lieux d’une situation plus complexe qu’il n’y paraît (2/3)

24.05.2020

Translated on 01.08.2023

Armand Taï

We have seen in the previous article that the question of abortion does not have an unanimous response among all the Muslim schools of thought. Christianity is even more complex because of its many internal divisions. In fact, this religion ranges from positions advocating a total ban on voluntary termination of pregnancy, to legalising it in all cases. While opinion on abortion within the Catholic and Orthodox Churches is relatively homogenous among the clergy and leading theologians, the same cannot be said for Protestants. Protestants are divided into a multitude of branches and sub-branches whose positions on abortion are often contradictory.

Catholicism and its inflexibility towards abortion

Catholicism is now the world’s largest Christian denomination, with over 1 billion believers^[1]« 1,3 milliards de catholiques dans le monde, la tendance à la hausse se poursuit », 26/03/2020, Vatican News, disponible sur : … Continue reading. Present on every continent, they represent the majority of the population in many countries or a significant minority, particularly on the American and European continents. It is therefore relevant to learn more about the position of the Catholic Church on this social issue, given its major influence worldwide.

LCatholic theologians condemn abortion as a serious sin. Anyone who has an abortion is liable to excommunication if they do not repent before a priest and do penance^[2]Le Priol Mélinée, « Que dit l’Église de l’avortement », 24/05/2018, La Croix, disponible sur : … Continue reading. According to the Church, there are no exceptions for abortion. Rape, incest, poverty, work, social life and even the risk of a threat to health are not sufficient reasons to carry out an abortion. Throughout history, Catholic theologians have discussed the possibility of resorting to abortion if a pregnant woman’s life should prove to be in danger following childbirth, but they have struggled to gain acceptance, since they represent only a numerical minority and have never received the support of any pope^[3]Sevegrand Martine, « Avortement, retour sur le débat catholique (1970-1979) », 2015/3 (n° 285), Revue d’éthique et de théologie morale, p. 35-47, disponible sur : … Continue reading.

The Catholic Church draws its position from various verses in the Bible, including: ” From birth I was cast on you; from my mother’s womb you have been my God.” in Psalm 22:10 of the Old Testament, and “… For before the children were born, and when they had neither done good, nor evil (…)” in the Epistle to the Romans, a letter from the New Testament sent by the apostle Paul to the Church of Rome^[4]Bible selon Louis Segond. These extracts show that, according to the Bible, the embryo is already considered to be a living being and, as a result, performing an abortion would be tantamount to murder.

In addition to the Bible, Catholic theologians base their work on the writings of the Holy Fathers^[5]Théologiens chrétiens ayant fondés les bases de la foi chrétienne entre le 1er et 7eme siècle. These included Tertullian, who said, “To hinder a birth is merely a speedier man-killing; nor does it matter whether you take away a life that is born, or destroy one that is coming to birth”^[6]« What the early church believed », Catholic Answers, disponible sur : https://www.catholic.com/tract/abortion and Athenagoras, who, in order to demonstrate that Christians are not murderers, made the following remark: “What man of sound mind, therefore, will affirm, while such is our character, that we are murderers? . . . [W]hen we say that those women who use drugs to bring on abortion commit murder, and will have to give an account to God for the abortion, on what principle should we commit murder?^[7]Ibid”

The recent position adopted by the popes on this issue has not changed greatly: while Pope Francis calls for clemency towards women who have had an abortion, he continues to take a firm stance against the practice, even comparing it to hiring a hitman^[8]Senèze Nicolas, « Avortement et tueur à gages, ce qu’a dit le pape François », 10/10/2018, La Croix, disponible sur  : … Continue reading.

Even today, many countries still have penal codes drafted on the basis of Catholic theology, due to the continuing strong influence of the Catholic faith in the societies concerned. This is the case in several Latin American countries and in some traditionally Catholic countries in Europe. As a result, the majority of Latin American countries have adopted legislation restricting abortion, while others, such as Nicaragua and the Dominican Republic, ban it completely. In Europe, while a number of historically Catholic countries have been strongly secularised and now take a liberal stance on abortion, others adhere more or less strictly to the principles of the Church. Malta, for example, prohibits abortion and allows no exceptions.

A review of statistics from countries with a Catholic majority or “Catholic culture” on public opinion on access to abortion shows that the population does not necessarily share the same opinion as the Church. In a country with a strong Catholic tradition such as Poland, 41% of the population believe that abortion should be legal in certain cases^[9]Sahgal Neha, “Eastern and western Europeans differ on importance of religion, views of minorities and key social issues”, 29/10/2018, Pew Research Center, disponible sur: … Continue reading. This discrepancy is even more significant in Western Europe, where traditionally Catholic countries have a large majority of their population in favour of abortion. This is the case in France, with 81% of people in favour of abortion, 72% in Spain, 65% in Italy and 60% in Portugal^[10]Ibid.

Orthodoxy and its strong influence against abortion

The Orthodox share the same roots as the Catholics, in that they refer to the same Holy Fathers of the first centuries of Christianity. Although there are differences between the two faiths, they share the same position on abortion’s issues. However, the Orthodox will not excommunicate a faithful woman for having had an abortion, but she will have to confess her sin to a priest and then devote herself to religious devotions in order to be forgiven.

Orthodox religious authorities openly support a strengthening of national legislation on abortion. This is particularly true for the Patriarch of the Russian Orthodox Church, Kirill, who has said on this subject: “I’ve appealed to deputies several times to consider restricting abortion, and I’ve seen some progress made in highlighting this evil^[11]Luxmoore Jonathan, “Head of Russian Orthodox Church backs abortion ban”, 30/01/2017, The Tablet, disponible sur: … Continue reading”.

Finally, the ban on abortion in countries with an Orthodox tradition is clear, as in Georgia, for example, where only 10% of the population support the legalisation of abortion for any reason whatsoever. Other Orthodox countries are less opposed to abortion, but the influence of Orthodox theology remains strong in many countries, notably Greece, where almost 45% of the population is against legalising abortion^[12]Ibid.

The heterogeneous positions of Protestant denominations on abortion

The different branches of the Protestant faith and their relative religious autonomy make it difficult to express a possible “Protestant consensus” on the subject of abortion.

Among Protestants, there are groups who claim to be “pro-choice” and in favour of legalising abortion regardless of the mother’s reasons, just as there are groups who claim to be “pro-life” and in favour of banning abortion in most, if not all cases.

If we look at the origins of the Protestant religion, we can see that opinion on abortion at the time was no different from that of the “Catholic adversary”. Martin Luther declared: “How great is the wickedness of human nature! How many daughters prevent conception and kill and expel tender foetuses, even though procreation is God’s work! Indeed, some spouses who marry and live together respectably have different ends in mind, but rarely children. God, who declares that we must be fruitful, considers it a great evil when human beings destroy their offspring^[13]Barnes Peter, “Abortion and the Reformation”, 24/05/2010, Evangelicals for life, disponible sur : http://evangelicalsforlife.com/abortion-and-the-reformation/”. John Calvin, another great Protestant theologian, later added: “If it seems more horrible to kill a man in his own house than in a field, because a man’s house is his safest refuge, surely it should be considered more atrocious to crush a foetus in the womb before it is born^[14]Ibid”. These words, spoken by the “founding fathers” of the Reformed churches, have had a lasting influence on the religious movement.

Nearly five centuries later, the position of Protestant Christians on abortion has become extremely heterogeneous. The difference between various historically Protestant countries on abortion is obvious. For example, today’s Lutheran churches (which may be state religions in some cases) are very liberal towards abortion and are in favour of legalising and practising it. The Lutheran Church of Norway has even publicly apologised for its anti-abortion past. Although it maintains a certain opposition to abortion in all cases, it no longer opposes its legalisation and considers that in certain situations abortion is necessary and permissible, particularly when the mother’s life is in danger^[15]Fiano-Chesser Cassy, “Church of Norway apologizes for previous pro-life stance, says abortion promotes women’s safety”, 04/03/2019, Life Site, disponible sur : … Continue reading. However, on the other side of the Atlantic, Lutheran churches tend to be much more conservative. The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod, for example, one of the largest Protestant churches in America in terms of membership, is firmly against abortion and encourages its members never to have one, even in dire circumstances^[16]Magness Cheryl, “Council of presidents signs Harrison’s abortion statement”, 28/02/2019, Reporter, disponible sur : … Continue reading. 

Similarly, the majority of Baptists remain opposed to abortion. Such is the case of the Southern Baptist Convention, the largest Protestant organisation in the United States of America, which considers abortion to be a tragedy that should remain prohibited in most cases except when the mother’s life is in danger.

The most virulent Christian opposition to abortion comes from Evangelicals. For example, the National Association of Evangelicals, which groups together more than forty different churches, although it does not have a definite opinion that brings all the evangelical churches into agreement, has an extremely unfavourable opinion of abortion when it is used for cases considered not serious, such as financial or professional reasons^[17]“Abortion”, National Association of Evangelicals (site officiel du groupe), disponible sur : https://www.nae.net/abortion-2/. Powerful and influential evangelical groups run major campaigns calling for the criminalisation of abortion, while other groups regularly organise events against hospitals using deliberately harsh and shocking images to discourage anyone wanting to have an abortion.

However, despite the strong opposition of many Protestant groups, there are also groups that are very liberal on the issue of abortion. Some denominations, such as the United Church of Christ, believe that abortion should not only be permitted but should also be considered moral by Christians. While not all theologians in this movement agree that abortion should be permitted in all cases, they are nevertheless in the majority, and many church pastors are openly in favour of a total right to abortion^[18]Green Emma, “A pastor’s case for the morality of abortion”, 26/05/2019, The Atlantic, disponible sur : … Continue reading. However, this opinion on abortion remains rare among Protestant churches.

Others, however, such as the Episcopal Church, although it advises against abortion, refuses to prohibit their followers from having access to it^[19]“Summary of General Convention Resolutions on Abortion and Women’s Reproductive Health”, The Episcopal Church (site officiel de l’église), 17/05/2019, disponible sur: … Continue reading

While the Protestant churches’ positions on abortion are often conservative, the faithful do not always share the official opinion of their churches. While 75% of evangelical Protestants are against the legality of abortion, only 40% of Protestants calling themselves Lutheran in the United States do so^[20]« Public opinion on abortion », 29/08/2019, Pew Research Center, disponible sur : https://www.pewforum.org/fact-sheet/public-opinion-on-abortion/.

Conclusion

The following observation can be made: although the Christian Churches are still in the minority when it comes to advocating total liberalisation of abortion, the fact remains that a diversity of opinions can be found, particularly among Protestants. These range from a total ban on abortion, through permission to have an abortion in certain cases, to total legality. However, the majority of religious leaders are still opposed to abortion, and while a future liberalisation of abortion in some churches cannot be ruled out, it is still a taboo subject for many pastors. What’s more, the fear of schisms often prevents any willingness to debate the issue within certain parishes. It should be noted that the population of the faiths concerned may be in favour of abortion, contrary to the doctrine of the majority religion in their country.

To quote this article : Armand Taï, “Monotheistic religions and their relationship to abortion: inventory of a situation more complex than it seems (2/3)”, 01.08.2023, Gender in Geopolitics Institute. https://igg-geo.org/?p=14659&lang=en

The statements in this article are the sole responsibility of the author.